Erstwhile
by Hime-koi
Summary: University AU. Sophomore Katniss Everdeen moves to the infamous Capitol suites per the insistence of Dean Snow. It's simultaneously the worst and best decision she's ever made. Everlark and a few others.
1. Third Floor, Room 6

**1\. Third Floor, Room 6**

This was quite possibly the worst decision I'd ever made in my entire life.

Standing in front of me was the infamous (albeit vaguely prestigious) suites that belonged to Panem University's Capitol set of dorms. Only the "best of the best" were able to call these dorms home. And that's where its streak of infamy comes from. While the "best of the best" at Panem included the kids like me who were given a scholarship to the university because of great test scores and overall intelligence, it also included those who were rich enough to almost buy out the school and those who (for lack of a better word) "prostituted" their way to the top.

I sighed. My only reason for choosing to room here rather than in the Districts was the fact that the suites had private bathrooms and individual common rooms in between each set of four rooms. It'd be much easier to study here than in the noisy common room of District 12 which was where I resided the previous semester.

" _It's only for a semester, Katniss,"_ I told myself as I climbed the steps to the entrance with my suitcase in tow. _"Dean Snow said that if it was unbearable, you could certainly go back to 12. Although he seemed kind of snarky about it…"_

Lost in my thoughts, I didn't even notice when I was finally in front of where I'd be living for the next two months.

" _Third floor, room 6…yep, this is it,"_ I thought, confirming that I was in the right place. I took a deep breath and opened the door, closing my eyes while doing so, expecting…well, I don't really know what I was expecting.

I was met with a normal looking living room complete with a navy sofa with two matching armchairs flanking either side. As far as I could see, there was a counter separating the living room and kitchenette. There was a vanity counter and sink with a large mirror on the far right wall with a door next to it that I assumed was to be one of the bathrooms. The left side mirrored the right. There were two doors on one side of the living room and two on the other which I supposed were the bedrooms.

After assessing the area, I finally turned my attention to the only other person in the room. A girl was laying on her back on the sofa, her feet dangling off of one of the arms. She had long brown hair that spilled behind her. Her mouth seemed to be moving and she was…repeating something?

I approached her and tried to put a smile on my face. "Hi, I'm Katniss Everdeen. I'm supposed to be-"

"Lam, lam, lam, lam," she repeated, never once taking her eyes off of the ceiling.

"Um…is that some kind of meditation technique…?" I asked, not really sure what was happening.

As expected, I got no response. No ounce of recognition to show she was even aware of my presence. Puzzled, I turned my attention to the bedrooms and tried to determine which one was to be mine. I moved towards the ones on the right first and surveyed the doors themselves.

The first door had an assortment of pins and stickers on it which covered the majority of the door except for the two nameplates close to the top. I made out the names 'Glimmer' and 'Clove.' Glimmer's nameplate was written in cheerful, bubbly letters and covered in glitter while Clove's was plain and largely contrasting to her roommate's.

The next door was vastly different. There were no obvious decorations on the door as far as I could see and the nameplates were written in fairly normal handwriting and both in cursive. The nameplates read 'Annie' and 'Johanna.'

I crossed in front of the girl who was still repeating her mantra (albeit much slower now) and went to read the nameplates on the last two doors.

The third one was mostly covered in green wallpaper with a forest design painted on it. Two of the leaves on the design had names on them that stated 'Delly' and 'Finch.' This one was the most impressive so far. I could tell a lot of work went into it.

Considering that the other doors all had two nameplates filled in somewhere, it wasn't surprising to come to the last door which was painted sky blue and had one legible name on it. 'Madge.' There was a similar nameplate under Madge's but the name was scratched out. I couldn't make out what it said. I leaned in closer to try and make sense of it.

"Katniss Everdeen."

I jumped away from the door as if I'd been doing something morbidly wrong and turned around to face the chanting girl from earlier. Her sea-green eyes were focused on me now and I couldn't stop myself from blurting out questions about her chanting.

"What were you doing earlier? Was that meditation?" I asked.

She continued to stare at me and then smiled. "Never mind that. It's just calming for me. I assume you're Madge's new roommate?"

I decided to drop the topic about her habits.

"I guess? I noticed the other nameplate was crossed out though." I said, jabbing my finger behind me.

The girl's eyes flickered to the door for a second and then back to me. "Oh yeah, that was Lavinia. She's… ah, well… I guess Madge can tell you about her if you're really curious!"

She stuck out her hand for me to shake. "I'm Annie by the way. Welcome to the Capitol!"

For some reason, Annie's welcome sounded more like a death sentence. I tried to place the weird way she brushed off that Lavinia out of my mind and focus on other things. Besides, Annie seemed nice enough even though she was a little weird.

"Thanks," I said, shaking her hand. "The Capitol seems much nicer than District 12."

"Oh, you started off in 12?" Annie asked. "I think both Delly and Madge started off there as well. I was in 4 as a freshman."

I nodded. That made sense. Although, it was possible to get a spot in the Capitol as a freshman, most of the residents were sophomores and higher as seniors were chosen from the lot first, then juniors, then sophomores, and at the very end was the freshman. Getting in here as a freshman was near impossible unless you were one of the rich kids.

"So you're a Career?" I asked jokingly.

Districts 1, 2, and 4 were collectively known as the Career dorms. I believe the name was coined because of the fact that most people living there were known to become established in their careers after college must faster than any of the other people in the residential dorms with the exception of the Capitol of course. It was hard to get into them but not impossible. With fairly good grades or a talent, you could easily get in. They, like the Capitol, were more expensive than the other dorms. But you were basically guaranteed at least an internship somewhere when you graduated.

"I guess you could say that," Annie said, a little sheepishly. "Glimmer and Clove are also Careers. Glimmer's from 1 and Clove's from 2. Other than that, I think Finch is from 5? She doesn't talk much. And Johanna is from 7."

"Cool," I said, nodding. "So when do I get to meet everyone else?"

Annie glanced at a clock that was resting on the wall above the sofa. "Soon, hopefully. I'm not sure where everyone else is but Johanna's taking a nap right now so you'll have to meet her later. She's… a little intimidating so waking her wouldn't be a good idea."

She then clapped her hands together excitedly. "You can go put your stuff in your room though! I'll even help! Is that suitcase it?"

"Nah. There's basically only essentials and a few sets of clothing in here. My boyfriend is coming later with more of my stuff." I said.

Annie's green eyes lit up with happiness. "Oh, you have a boyfriend? Does he go here? What's his name?"

I shook my head, smiling. "His name is Gale and yes, he goes here. He's in District 12 but he wants to try to get in here next semester."

"Aw," Annie says. "I can't wait to meet him!"

I smile and Annie asks me a few more questions about Gale.

He'd been my best friend for years before finally telling me that he had feelings for me. It was a bit of a relief considering that I'd felt the same way for a while. We'd been dating for a while now, probably close to about a year and three months.

Annie and I continued to chat about random things for an hour or two when the door swings open and in walks at least five other girls. I'm guessing this is the rest of the residents of Room 6 and I can't help but wonder which one is Madge, hoping that she'll be as nice as Annie.

The first girl who walked into the room had dark brown hair tied back into a tight ponytail and a fairly small stature. She looked wildly around the room before turning back to glare at a blonde girl standing behind her.

"Glimmer! What the hell did I tell you about decorating our door with your shit?" she snarled.

"Sorry," the blonde scoffed, looking not the least bit apologetic. "I figured since you said you were planning on moving back to 2, I could do whatever I wanted."

"It was a joke, you dipshit," the brunette said in response. "Did you really think I would leave the Capitol to go back there?"

She stomped over to the first bedroom door and proceeded to peel off as many of the stickers around her nameplate as she could.

"Well Cato's there so…" Glimmer trailed off, a slight smirk on her lips.

The brunette turned red and ceased her actions to stomp back over to Glimmer. She clenched the stickers in her fist. "Say anything like that again and I'll beat you within an inch of your life."

The blonde rolled her eyes and childishly stuck her tongue out at the shorter girl. Clearly, she thought her threat held no weight but I could already tell that the brunette would be more than happy to carry it out given the chance. I shivered. What kind of people were I going to be living with for the next few months?

Thankfully as silence filled the room, Annie broke it by clearing her throat. Unfortunately, the next thing out of her mouth was meant to bring attention to me.

"Everyone, this is Katniss," she said. "Madge, she's your new roommate."

A plain girl stepped out from the group. Fortunately, she looked nice enough as she came to take my hand with a smile on her face. I couldn't even express my relief at the fact that Madge wasn't similar to the enraged girl that I presume to be Clove.

"I'm Madge," she said. "I'm looking forward to being your roommate."

I smiled in response. "Likewise."

Madge turned around to survey the others in the room. "It seems like you've already met Annie. Her roommate, Johanna, is asleep most of the time so you'll probably meet her eventually. In the meantime, the curly-haired girl is Delly…"

Delly seemed sweet enough. She smiled at me before proceeding to try and break Clove away from basically attacking her and Glimmer's door.

"Her roommate, the redhead, is Finch…"

Finch had a vacant look on her face and only seemed to acknowledge me after Madge had said her name. She looked at me and then was back in her own world seconds after. So that's what Annie meant when she said Finch doesn't talk much.

"And the fighting over there are Glimmer and Clove. This happens pretty frequently."

I watched Clove and Glimmer bicker for a few more minutes, realizing that Madge was probably right and this would be happening for a while. So instead, I turned my attention to the room, kind of wanting to escape from all of the madness.

"I think I'm gonna go put some of my stuff up now." I said, pointing to my suitcase.

"Oh! I'll go with you." Madge says.

I nod in response. Hopefully, no one else will tag along.

I push open the door to my new room and I'm not surprised to find it's pretty small. There are two beds parallel to each other and a dresser at the foot of each one. Against the wall next to the door is a single desk where Madge has her laptop set up.

Madge's side of the room is clean with her floral bedsheets neatly tucked in. She has a rug in between the two beds and little figurines as well as trinkets rest on the top of her dresser. Compared to her side, mine just looks very vacant with an empty mattress and nothing in or on top of my dresser.

I move first to put a few personal belongings on top of my dresser. A picture of my family (me, my younger sister, Prim, my mother, and my late father) is what goes on top of it first. Next to it I place a smaller picture of Gale and I when we were younger and played together in our hometown. I move to the bed next, pulling blankets out of my suitcase to make it.

Madge moves to help me and although I'm grateful for the help, I know it's just a way for her to make conversation with me. As expected, she speaks when we're halfway through the act.

"So how are you liking it here so far?" she asks.

"It's…fun…" I say. No other word can really describe how I feel. I don't hate it but it's also not the best thing right now.

Madge laughs. "Yeah, that's what I figured you'd say. You seem like the solitary type. If that is the case, why move here?"

"Comfort," I answer. "And because I have a housing scholarship so I figured I may as well use it here since it's the most expensive."

She nods. "I can understand that."

We lapse into silence but it isn't awkward at all. I can tell already that I'm going to like living with Madge. I try to think of something to say to her but the thought of her old roommate comes back to my mind and I can't stop my curiosity.

"I noticed the other nameplate was crossed out," I said. "Annie told me her name was Lavinia? What happened to her?"

Madge seemed hesitant to say anything. "Lavinia is… gone."

"As in dead?" I asked bluntly and then winced when I heard myself say it. "Sorry. I mean, she passed away?"

Madge shook her head. "No. Gone as in disappeared."

To say that was not what I expected was an understatement. Someone had literally… disappeared off campus? And I was going here last semester so why hadn't I heard about it? Something like this should have been televised, right?

"Why doesn't anyone know about this?" I asked.

"Part of it is because Lavinia's family doesn't want the publicity. The other part is because Dean Snow said he'd take care of it and that there was no need to involve the press."

I nodded and didn't ask anything more. The entire situation was weird and a little off-putting to say the least. How was the dean going to take care of a girl's disappearance on his own? Involving the police was supposed to help.

Madge seemed uncomfortable with the conversation at this point so I let her off the hook. "Sorry for asking. I'm probably gonna take a nap though so why don't you go help stop Glimmer and Clove from arguing?"

She seemed relieved and bid me farewell as she all but ran out of the room.

I made a mental note not to ask about Lavinia ever again. Besides, it was none of my business anyway.

I leaned back and closed my eyes.

This was going to be a long semester.

tbc

 **A/N:** So guess who just seen Mockingjay Part 2? Not once, but twice! And the first thing that came to my mind is that I needed to make something happy. Nevermind the fact that I threw in some mystery about Lavinia, hahaha... Anyway! This fic is going to start off Galeniss but it WILL end Everlark. There's no question about it, no competition, no voting. Everlark and a few other pairings that will become obvious later will be what's at the end. Nevertheless, thank you for reading and I hope you stick around for the next chapter!

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Gale pulls one of my overloaded suitcases into the room, apparently having no regard for the desk which is obviously in his way. I'm guessing he didn't see it in time because my suitcase unfortunately knocks noisily into Madge and I's shared desk, knocking several of her cute figurines that she'd moved there to the floor.

"Oops." he says, but can't say anything more as Madge stomps past him, picking up one of her figures.

She pats its head a little obsessively and does a quick look over it to make sure it isn't broken before whirling around to yell at Gale. "How dare you show this much disregard for another person's belongings!"

I've only been here for a few days but I'd already determined that it wasn't possibly for Madge to get angry. Until now that is. With the look she's giving Gale, I'm surprised my boyfriend hasn't dropped dead yet. I see Gale's face morphing into a glare and I step between them.

"Hey! Let's just get my stuff in, okay?" I say, looking between the two of them.

"Bitch." Gale mutters under his breath and I freeze because another thing I've learned in the past few days is that Madge has impeccable hearing. She could hear Annie's whispers from the common room, doing her mantras so there's no way she couldn't hear Gale's comment with being only a few feet away.

I saw it coming a mile away but I didn't stop it because although I loved Gale, he'd set himself on a path that I didn't think was even possible.

 _Slap._

 **next chapter** : Gale comes to move the rest of Katniss' stuff in and meets her new suitemates!


	2. Miscommunication

2\. Miscommunication

My "nap" ended up lasting the entire night. I noticed sleepily that the sun was peering through the window in Madge and I's room and I was more than a little annoyed that it'd woke me up. Turning on my side, I noticed Madge asleep in her bed and wondered when she'd decided to come back in after that more than awkward conversation we'd had.

Taking a glance at my phone which read 8:31 AM, I threw the covers back on my bed and ignoring the fact that I still had on the jeans and t-shirt I was wearing yesterday, walked to the kitchenette in order to find some breakfast. Hopefully, the other residents didn't mind if I ate a little of their food since I hadn't had time yesterday to buy groceries for myself.

I found cereal on one of the shelves and helped myself to a bowl of it. Walking back to my room, I brought my laptop into the living room since I didn't want to disturb Madge and proceeded to find something to watch while I ate.

I was five minutes into _Pacific Rim_ when it became evident that someone was watching me. I looked up to see an unfamiliar girl with short, spiky brown hair and a disinterested look on her face. I'm guessing this was Annie's roommate, Johanna. She didn't seem particularly worried that a stranger was in her suite.

"…You must be Johanna." I said, attempting to break the silence.

She narrowed her eyes at me and I figured now would be a good time to tell her I wasn't a burglar or anything.

"I'm Katniss," I clarified. "Madge's new roommate."

Johanna gave me a look of utter disdain and didn't even bother replying to me. She snatched the bowl of cereal out of my hands (which I let out a "Hey!" at) and stalked through her and Annie's bedroom door, never once taking her eyes off of me.

I shook my head, not really sure what to make of my first meeting with Johanna and turned back to my movie which I had missed a few minutes of while trying to convince Johanna that I wasn't trying to rob her.

The next few hours passed unceremoniously. I busied myself by watching anything interesting I found online until Madge woke up and dragged herself into the living room and plopped down on the sofa next to me.

"Sleep well?" I asked, not able to force the smile off my face at her head of messy hair and rumpled clothing.

She yawned in response. "Shouldn't I be asking you that since it was your first night here?"

"Well, I didn't even realize when I went to sleep that I'd be sleeping through the night," I said. "But it was good."

"So was mine," Madge said. "You're a quiet sleeper which is a big contrast from Lavinia."

I'm pretty sure she didn't notice that she'd referred to her old roommate yet again so I just let it slide and smiled.

"I met Johanna." I informed Madge.

"She's pleasant, isn't she?" Madge asked with a grin.

"A literal ball of sunshine," I responded. "Does she get along with Annie?"

Madge nodded. "The two of them are best friends pretty much. They met when they first moved into the suite but have basically been inseparable since. Annie's probably the only one who Johanna doesn't perpetually glare at."

With how nice Annie was, it would be hard to believe that even someone like Johanna could be angry at her.

"Hey," Madge said. "How about we go get some coffee or something and walk around campus for a while? Since we still have a few days before classes start, we can go find what halls they'll be in."

"Sounds good," I said, thankful for a reason to get out of the suites. "Let me just go get dressed."

After twenty minutes, Madge and I met up at the door of the suite. She had smoothed her blonde hair down and tossed away her rumpled pajamas for a simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I looked similar with my hair in a braid and an equally comfortable outfit.

Together, we exited the Capitol suites and circled around the dormitories to where the main parts of campus were.

To say Panem University was beautiful was an understatement. I'd heard before that Dean Snow's favorite flower was a white rose so it wasn't surprising to find many white rose bushes around campus. In the middle of the courtyard was a huge congregation of them that hadn't been there the semester before.

Adjacent to the courtyard circle was the student union, the Cornucopia, which contained many fast food restaurants on the first floor, the cafeteria on the second, and it was attached to the bookstore and library. It was the largest structure on campus and I remembered spending many days of my last semester in the library due to the noise levels in District 12.

Madge and I stopped to get coffee and then proceeded to walk past the courtyard to the area where the halls were. Most of my classes the previous two semesters were spent in C. Snow Hall (named of course for our wonderful dean) which was the newest hall and used for most of the freshman entry classes. It was however, just one of the many halls here at Panem.

The first building we stopped at was easily the oldest building on campus. Leif Hall was known as the English building and was the only Hall where Madge and I had a class together. English 211 at 12:30 PM to be exact. After finding the room on the first floor, we moved on to the next Hall and to the next.

We continued like that for about thirty minutes, chatting about our classes and such when I spotted a familiar face sitting on one of the benches around the back of the Cornucopia, his face buried in a book. Gale.

"Gale!" I called out, briskly walking towards him with Madge in tow.

He looked up and I instantly felt happiness over seeing him again. It'd been a few days and although that might've seemed weird for me to miss him in what most people would consider a little bit of time, I truly did and was actually relieved to see him.

"Hey, Catnip," he said, standing up and hugging me as I reached him. "I thought I was gonna see you later today when I brought the rest of your stuff?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but my roommate and I decided to walk around campus a bit. So if you have my other suitcases, we can all bring them up in one trip."

His eyes drifted to Madge and I noticed that I had mentioned her but didn't bother introducing them. "Sorry! Gale, this is my new roommate, Madge. Madge, this is my boyfriend, Gale."

"Nice to meet you." Madge said warmly, shaking his hand.

"Likewise." Gale replied simply.

Gale gathered up his things and proceeded to walk back with us towards the dorms. On the way, he informed me that my other two suitcases were back in his room in 12 so we'd have to stop back there on the way to the Capitol. We reached his room on the first floor in record time.

"You'll get to meet my roommate, I guess," he said as he turned the key to open the room. "He's a little quiet but otherwise nice."

Rooms in 12 were much different than Capitol suites and I was more than happy to say that I enjoyed the look of the suites more than 12's rooms when I caught sight of Gale's dorm. It was exactly like mine from last semester with a small kitchenette with only a fridge, sink and counter with a few cabinets across from a vanity. Next to the vanity was the door to the bathroom. Adjacent to all this was a final door which contained the singular bedroom that looked like the ones in the suites but a little smaller.

Gale had set my suitcases against the vanity and went to retrieve them while I set my eyes on who I presumed to be his roommate who was adding magnets to the fridge. From what I could see, he was about Gale's height and had dirty blonde hair. When he turned around after hearing our entrance, I also noted that he sported glasses. He was pretty cute from an objective standpoint.

His eyebrows furrowed when he took in the sight on me and Madge. "Who are-?"

Gale interrupted him quickly. "Katniss, my girlfriend and her roommate, Madge. I'm sure you remember when I told you about her."

"Oh, right," the guy said in response. "I'm Thom. Pleasure."

I nodded in his direction and Madge gave her characteristic smile in response. I see what Gale meant by Thom being fairly quiet as after introducing himself to us, he retreated into the bedroom without another word. Gale wordlessly picked up my suitcases and we began the trek back to the Capitol.

When we made it to the third floor, Madge opened the door for Gale and he pulled my suitcases in. He abruptly stopped when he caught sight of the same thing I'd seen when I'd first arrived. Annie, on the sofa, repeating something yet again. Something different this time though.

"Shrim, shrim, shrim." she repeated with her eyes closed.

"What's wrong with her?" Gale whispered to me.

I didn't answer but I noticed Madge send a incredulous look in Gale's direction. "There's nothing _wrong_ with her," she seemed to spit out. "It's just something she does."

Gale's eyes narrowed a bit. "Well, it just seemed kind of weird to me. Sorry."

Madge seemed to accept that and I ventured to the door that separated Madge and I's room from the living room. We left Annie to her devices as I swung open the door and motioned for Gale to bring my stuff in.

Gale pulls one of my overloaded suitcases into the room, apparently having no regard for the desk which is obviously in his way. I'm guessing he didn't see it in time because my suitcase unfortunately knocks noisily into Madge and I's shared desk, knocking several of her cute figurines that she'd moved there to the floor.

"Oops." he says, but can't say anything more as Madge stomps past him, picking up one of her figures.

She pats its head a little obsessively and does a quick look over it to make sure it isn't broken before whirling around to yell at Gale. "How dare you show this much disregard for another person's belongings!"

I've only been here for two days but I'd already determined that it wasn't possibly for Madge to get angry. Until now that is. Her protectiveness of Annie and then the protectiveness of her belongings mixed together created something dangerous. With the look she's giving Gale, I'm surprised my boyfriend hasn't dropped dead yet. I see Gale's face morphing into a glare and I step between them.

"Hey! Let's just get my stuff in, okay?" I say, looking between the two of them.

"Bitch." Gale mutters under his breath and I freeze because another thing I've learned in the past few days is that Madge has impeccable hearing. She could hear Annie's whispers from the common room, doing her mantras so there's no way she couldn't hear Gale's comment with being only a few feet away.

I saw it coming a mile away but I didn't stop it because although I loved Gale, he'd set himself on a path that I didn't think was even possible.

 _Slap._

Gale gave my roommate a look of surprise as he held his injured right cheek to his hand. Madge looked surprised herself that she'd done this as she looked at her offending hand like she'd never seen the thing before.

"Well, um…" I couldn't seem to find the words to say anything in this situation.

"What the fuck? Did you just slap me?" Gale all but yelled in Madge's direction. To say he was angry would be an understatement. However, Madge seemed just as upset.

"What does it look like, you idiot? You were there when it happened!" she responded.

I couldn't believe this was happening. As much as I wanted to stop it, I didn't want to get in the middle of a fight like this. To be honest, Madge was scaring me a little and I noted that after this was resolved, I'd try to never get on her bad side as long as we were roommates.

"Gale, how about you go back to 12, yeah?" I suggested. "Get to know your roommate and all."

"Yes, please make him leave." Madge said.

I took Gale's hand, leading him away from Madge's glare, past Annie's chantings and outside to the entrance of the Capitol. Once there, he let go of my hand and paced a few times, fuming after his encounter with Madge.

"Katniss, I love you, but I don't think I'm going to visit as long as _she_ is your roommate." he stated.

"C'mon, you're being ridiculous," I responded. "You guys fought over something small. I'm sure if you apologized, she'll forgive you. I don't even think she meant to get that angry. It's just you had already said that stuff about Annie…and then you knocked over her stuff…"

"I'm not apologizing to her!" Gale said in disbelief. "She _slapped_ me!"

"I know. But don't you think you might've…I don't know…deserved it just a little?"

A look of utter betrayal crossed Gale's face and I instantly regretted saying that. He tried to open his mouth to say something to that but kept closing it. Finally, he settled on kissing my cheek and telling me bye.

"I'll see you later," he said with a blank look. "Text me if you get the chance."

And with that, he walked off. A little broken-hearted, I walked back into my suite and to my bedroom to where Madge was still standing, putting her figurines in order.

"Uh," she said when I'd walked in. "Tell Gale I'm sorry for slapping him. That went a little too far."

I waved her off and went to sulk in my bed.

"Are you okay?" she asked, hesitating.

"I will be." I said.

But I didn't know how true that was. Sure, Gale and Madge had fought over something stupid and sure, I did believe that it was Gale's fault to some extent but I'd realized that I'd made a terrible mistake by telling him that. I expected Gale to take my side when things like this happened, no matter how small. So why couldn't I do the same for him?

Sighing, I decided I wanted no more to do with anyone for the rest of the day. I'd apologize to Gale tomorrow.

tbc

 **A/N:** Hi guys! I'm so happy that I ended up having a few follows and favorites! Thank you so much for those. I'm so happy there are people who like this fic. I know things are going a little slow in it right now but I promise it'll pick up soon. Note that the M-rating isn't just for language although it is partly. I think I'm planning on updating every few days as I finish each chapter. Never longer than a week though. Please stick around for the next chapter and leave me a review if you have time!

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"Whoa, he's hot. You know him, Katniss?" Glimmer said as she took a bite of the hamburger in her hands.

"Barely," I said, watching as Peeta walked off. "I met him this morning when I was getting coffee. He apparently had a class with me my first semester and also lived in District 12. I never noticed him to be honest..."

"How could you not notice someone _that_ attractive?" Glimmer asked, astonished.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Well, the class we had together had almost 100 students in it. I don't really remember anybody from that class. And as far as it goes for District 12, I lived in what some people called the Seam which were the terrible rooms on the fourth floor. There's no elevator in 12 so everyone who lived there either stayed in their rooms or away from it to avoid the stairs. Peeta apparently lived on the first floor. We never seen each other."

"Well, you have to at least admit that he's good-looking enough to gain your attention." Glimmer sighed. Was she listening to anything I was saying? Or was she only going to comment on Peeta's appearance?

Madge decided to join the conversation at this point. "Well, he's definitely nicer and more well-mannered than your asshole of a boyfriend." she muttered.

I sighed. "Okay, I agree that's he's nice and attractive and all that but as Madge said, I do have a boyfriend. I have no interest in Peeta."

"You should." Glimmer said. "But no matter, I'll take him if you don't want him."

I rolled my eyes and sipped on my milkshake.

 **next chapter:** Katniss "meets" Peeta!


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